The Scriptural Basis for Unity

The ideal of unity has long played a vital part in the course of human history. Humanity has sought to achieve a state where the world would have achieved lasting and sustainable peace through unity; an egalitarian society, where conflict would be completely abolished and where mutual understanding and equality would govern the state of human affairs. So far humanity has yet to achieve such a state. Our history is replete with attempts, but has yet to record a single event that embodies true unity and peace.

Genesis 11 provides us with the first instance of a united humanity. The Bible states the world “was of one language, and of one speech” (Genesis 11:1). The priorities and directions of humanity was in unison for they spoke one language shared a common culture and set of traditions and understood each other. But such unity only exacerbated the depravity of humanity. Rather than being united to worship the Almighty, they instead began to devise vain imaginations. ^“And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Gen 11:4). The intent of humanity at this stage is to exalt themselves, or make a name for themselves that is equal in prominence and importance to that of the Godhead. They wanted to build a tower that would reach the heavens, a direct path to God perhaps even make themselves equal to God.

Genesis 11:6 states, “Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” The unity in language, thought and action of a united but depraved humanity will lead to pursuits that are contrary to the Divine Plan. In the infinite wisdom and grace of the Almighty, the Godhead decided to intervene and prevent mankind from courting His judgment and eternal destruction. Genesis 11:7-9 states, “Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another' speech. Scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” A similar event of self-exaltation led to the expulsion of Lucifer from the presence of the Most High: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isaiah 14:12-15).

God’s intervention was an act of grace and preservation for had He not intervened and confounded the language, hence the purposes and understanding of mankind, that humanity would have exalted itself to be like unto the most High—the ramification of which would have been immediate and permanent destruction.

Since Babel, humanity has continually worked towards the desired end of a united world—one world governed by a common set of ideals, language, and purposes. Great kingdoms have purposed to unite the entire world under a universal kingdom—from the Akkadian dynasties to the Roman Empire of ancient times to the present Colonial Empires or recent history and the Pax Americana of the present—and will stop at nothing to achieve the ideals of a united world.

Throughout history, the ideals of unity and peace is always dictated by the dominant. All those that refuse to subscribe to the dictates of the dominant will always be seen as antagonist, rebels, and even terrorists to an extreme. This pursuit has led to the creation of more conflicts throughout the world today. Dominant peoples have used everything from geographical expansion (to feed and house their people) to religion evangelism as a justification for armed occupation and conflict.

This prospect of attaining unity has also led to the destruction of cultures, to genocide, and to all forms of atrocities against humanity. Despite this, mankind has remain undeterred to achieve this objective end of “unity” even if the process or path to attain such a pursuit results in the employment of methods that are contrary to the objective end. It seems that mankind will do anything to achieve unity even at the cost of lives and their very souls.

Is unity a priority in the Divine Plan? No it is not. Unity, in its pure and unadulterated form, is simply the fruit of a Theocracy of the Millennial kingdom. Until then, the priority of the Divine Plan is the salvation of mankind. To focus on the ideal of unity is simply to strive for something that cannot possibly be achieved. Conflicts will remain until sin is completely abolished from the face of the earth. And the abolition of sin, according to the Scriptures, will only occur after the Lord has purged the heavens and earth and created the new heavens and the new earth (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13).

Is the Church and the believers that comprise it tasked to establish peace and unity throughout the world? On the contrary, the purpose of the Church is to present a spiritual stumbling block to both Jews and Gentiles. While believers are instructed to be good citizens and to honor government, we have been charged to declare the truth that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” We are to “…sanctify the Lord God in your (our) hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

The militancy of the Church is not physical or material in nature. We are not to strive against physical structures (flesh and blood), rather we are to contend with spiritual matters. We are simply to fight the warfare for the souls of all mankind, and our implements for warfare are explicit: preaching and prayer; our primary weapon is the Word of God. This warfare is meant to divide mankind only on the basis of spiritual nature—believers from unbelievers; saved from lost; redeemed from enslaved; righteous from unrighteous; justified from condemned; eternally living from the eternally dead.

Are believers charged to remain a united community? Yes. In fact, if we look closely, the word that is directly translated “unity” in the New Testament, enothta, occurs only twice in the entire New Testament (Ephesians 4:3, 13) and is directed to the Church as a community of regenerated believers. The remainder of references imply the ideal by the use of the numeral “heis, hen, or hice” (Greek, en). But in such cases it is used to refer to an absolute number rather than to an ideal (one body, one faith, one hope, one Spirit, one baptism, etc.). In such cases too, the focus is to communicate a singularity based on the nature of God, and not to a collective characteristic.

The charge of the apostle Paul for the church to remain united is based primarily on the truth that the church serves one God, is saved by one Savior, is called unto one Calling, and is filled with one Spirit. The basis to achieve real unity are present within the ecclesia of the called or the regenerated—the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul had to constantly remind the church about this truth simply because believers are still prone to think in terms of unity and peace as conformity to their personal opinions and preferences rather than to think of unity and peace as a fruit of the singularity of salvation and the singularity of purpose of the Godhead. In contrast to the constructs of unity among the unbelieving, the constructs of unity of the believing Church is glorifying to God since the basis of this unity is to serve the purposes of the most High—towards the salvation of all mankind by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

It is time for the Church to calibrate its focus from trying to be a social club, a political group, or advocates for world peace and back to its primary purpose—the preaching of the Gospel so that all men will hear and believe. Unrest and fragmentation within the church only occurs when this purpose is confused with agendas that do not conform to the Church’s prime directive, and when its purposes are lined with personal vested interests of individual or groups, and when believers are swayed to esteem the priorities of the material over the spiritual.

There is only one way that our Churches can remain united and remain glorifying to God, and that is for the body, the ecclesia of the called, to pursue without ceasing the priorities of the most High over personal or even ecclesiastical interests—the salvation of mankind through the preaching and teaching of the word, and through fervent prayer.

The apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31: “¹⁸For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. ²⁰Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. ²²For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: ²³But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; ²⁴But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. ²⁵Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. ²⁶For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: ²⁷But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; ²⁸And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: ²⁹That no flesh should glory in his presence. ³⁰But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: ³¹That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

If you want real unity and peace, there is only one place to find this, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Call on Him today—before it’s too late. Judgment cometh.